Industrial property sales improving

An investment acquisition of a Sacramento industrial building is a good sign for smaller such buildings, but there’s still concern over larger properties, according to the broker who helped complete the sale.

A building in the Sky Creek Commercial Center, 6301 Sky Creek Drive, was bought by Ivan Barta 2000 Revocable Trust, a group based in Nevada, said Bud Applegate, senior vice president for industrial with Colliers International in Sacramento.

At the time of the purchase for $1.22 million, or about $38 a square foot, the 32,295-square-foot building was only about half occupied, he said, but that’s since changed.

“There was one guy waiting in line for a buyer so he could sign a lease,” Applegate said, so occupancy is now about 60 percent.

The building includes 10 drive-in bays and is on two acres in the Sky Creek Commerce Center, near the Sacramento Army Depot. Applegate said the seller was Wells Fargo, suggesting the property had become bank owned.

But the overall picture for industrial properties is improving, he said, noting the region’s industrial vacancy rate of 15 percent is considered pretty healthy.

“I think sellers are getting more realistic and they’re lowering their prices,” he said. The major setbacks for industrial leasing come from large users, such as the departures of Coca-Cola and Campbell Soup, leaving larger spaces to fill.

Applegate handled the deal on behalf of the buyer, while Mickey Turpen and Gary Gallelli of Voit Real Estate Services represented the seller.